FGM in the UK, illegal since 1985 but no prosecutions, how can we change this?

[OvaryAction]

I have just read this article stating that two people have been arrested for performing Female Genital Mutilation on a baby less than two months old.

The UK's efforts to end FGM are being seriously held back by a lack of national strategy or action plan. There are plenty of guidelines out there for teachers, midwives, social workers, police and so on, but they are not obligatory reading and many people in positions where they could identify victims and girls and women at risk are simply not aware of the problem or the role they could play in fixing it. this documentary explains this problem very well and the woman presenting it has created a petition asking the home office to act now and create an effective national action plan.

Please, please sign it and share it. FGM breaches numerous human rights including the right to no torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and causes lifelong physical and psychological trauma to it's survivors. In some cases FGM is fatal.

[MissMarplesBloomers]

Signed- makes me sick.

[ChrisTheSheep]

Signed.

[Mirage]

Signed

[Pixel]

Easy to say girls should be checked when you are white European and it isn't going to happen to you. I'm half-African, I think how I would feel it it were done to me.

The horror of regularly holding little girls down and exposing their genitals makes my blood run cold. The fact that the French do it does not recommend it to me quite the opposite.

You see this is what happens as soon as we suggest actually taking some action against this. Accusations of racism.
How the hell do we stop this if we don't even know who has been cut and who hasn't? If parents who mutilate their daughters know full well that no one will find out? There is no other way and that's why it will carry on, petition or no petition.

Being looked at by a medical professional to assertain if FGM has taken place will surely take seconds, being held down and mutilated is a lifetime of suffering.

[WoodyandLol]

Signed

[OvaryAction]

An open dialogue with practicing communities is key to stopping FGM.

In Africa the successful anti FGM programs are the ones which have encouraged communities to discuss FGM openly, introduced important facts and allowed people to come to their own conclusions. As shown in the documentary I linked in the OP, members of practicing communities are often uncertain of what really goes on, or of the long term effects.

Enforced checking would not help, it would only postpone FGM til the girls were old enough not to be checked anymore.

[Branleuse]

im not proposing holding girls down to expose their genitals. There must be more sensitive ways of checking, but I think the risk to these girls from their own relatives is much more of an issue than whether it is unpalatable to check. My lovely SIL hates that it was done to her. Thankfully She was adamant it wouldn't happen to my niece, but I am not so sure other members of her family are as progressive. There can be massive family pressure, and if theres no chance of anyone finding out, then theres less incentive

[BeaTrootfull]

Signed.

[oldmacdonaldscow]

Signed, and hopefully bumped as well.

[poii10]

Signed
This practice is totally abhorrent and needs every effort to wipe it out in this supposed civilised country, I saw the t v program last week how any body could sexually assult pre teen girls in this way is abhorrent.

[Littleen]

signed

[christine44]

signed

[Littlegiraffe]

Signed.

[ElizabethJonesMartin]

If some cultures have trouble with nudity then they need therapy and should change. Most little girls in English culture have no problems being naked. It is only old fashioned religions and warped religious practices which might make a girl unhappy at being examined by a doctor or nurse. It is not a problem for most white girls and plenty of parents would be happy for their child to have an annual medical check including weight to help us with fat children never mind checking general signs of both FGM and other abuse. So bring it on. We are prepared that our daughters have these checks at school even if 93% of the children are not in groups that might be at risk.

As for the case in the standard until they know if the baby had its passport before the operation they cannot proceed as it was done abroad and both parents are not British citizens so it will come down to whether she was cut before or after she got her passport - not therefore the best test case with which to start.

Education is the key, getting all those Somali and Egyptian women in the UK and their men to shout loudly against the practice so that no one ever does it again to any British girl. Make it very clear it is appalling child abuse and we do not stand for it on the planet.

[AnneofGreenFables]

Signed

[TreaterAnita]

Signed, though somewhat bizarrely my browser says that the (government) web page has an outdated security certificate and I had to click against an advice message to do so.

I agree that an open dialogue and education are vital, but I'm not sure that checks don't also have a place. Yes, there is a risk that FGM will simply be deferred, but then those children will be better able to verbalise their fears to trusted adults, and a good education programme will support that. It is my understanding that there has never been a successful prosecution for FGM in this country, despite the fact that it has been a crime for over 30 years. Clearly this is an established cultural practice among a number of ethnic groups, and deterrance (as a result of conviction) has to play a part hand in hand with education.

[BasilBabyEater]

Signed

[Caitlin17]

Female genital mutilation 'rising' www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24915967

I would have no problem with the French system. As far as I know it's applied to all so the idea of white Europeans being excluded isn't correct. I'd sooner that than the dubious distinction of living in a country which is seen as a soft touch.

[PosyNarker]

Signed

I would like to see a day where mutilating any child for religious reasons is abhorrent, regardless of gender and no matter how 'minor' the degree.

FGM is a critical issue however and we absolutely must ensure it's not accepted here. It's a tragic thing (and a sign of how far from equality these women are) that women perpetuate this when it is women that it hurts.

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

This idea of checks came up on a thread a while ago and I was surprised how vehemently people are opposed. So long as it was done annually with a parent present to all girls what is the problem? To be honest given how pathetic people can be about smear tests I think it might also be beneficial to get women of all cultures used to being examined down below from an early age.

Signed btw. That programme was brilliant and appalling in equal measure. I hate that the women who made it are getting abuse now. We live in a terrible world.

[justwondering72]

Signed.

[Flumpf]

Signed. I don't agree with male genital mutilation either.

[LilyLilyLilyOiOiOi]

Signed

[gooblediguk]

Signed

[VisualiseAHorse]

Signed.

Agree with a lot of what has already been said....what would happen if a white person did this to their child? Would they not be arrested, do little girls with a foreign heritage not deserve the same care as a little white girl?

I agree that male circumcision needs to be stopped too. Granted, it may not be as 'intrusive', nor have such debilitating effects later on in life as female genital mutilation, but you are still mutilating a child. If I decided to begin lopping off the the tip of my child's ear because my religion said it should be done, I imagine I would be arrested very quickly.